Brought to you by your future graffiti artist

Today it was hot in the Northwest.  Like, 95 degrees in some spots.  And for those of you who say that 95 isn't that bad -- Seattleites do not have air conditioning so SHUT IT!  Moving on.....

Since I knew this week was going to be warm I had been thinking of activities Aaron and I could do outside - even if it was on our little "stoop".  I had been actually thinking of sidewalk chalk for awhile and yesterday I went to Safeway and lo and behold -- there was sidewalk chalk for sale right in the front of the store in a summer display.  So today I swept our stairs and little entrance area, put the baby gate up at the end of the stairs and introduced Aaron to sidewalk chalk!  Hooray!!!  

Aaron loved it.  Ulrich loved keeping Aaron company.  And I loved being outside for a change without having to restrain Aaron in one way or another (hand holding, stroller, babe in arms).  He spent a little over an hour outside coloring on the walls and ground.  It's like he's a baby Picasso.  I sent a photo to my mom's phone and she said "He is going to become a graffiti person now!".  Yeah, I'm pretty sure sidewalk chalk does not lead to a life of crime, but I guess you never know.  Of course she thought it was totally adorable anyway.

Recently Aaron, Josh and I went to The Hi-Life (for their awesome $5 breakfast) and Aaron dropped his cup on the floor when a nice woman who was waiting for a table picked it up for him.  I said thank you to the lady and Aaron turned around and looked at her and said "thank you!" and the woman just started cracking up.  She thought it was the cutest thing.  And it was.  Score one for teaching baby good manners!

We're also trying to get Aaron to say "help" when he needs it instead of screaming (loudly) in frustration.  When Aaron can't get a toy out of his toy box he screams.  When he's sitting on something and doesn't realize it and can't pull it out from under him, he screams.  When he traps himself behind a piece of furniture and the wall, he screams.  So we tell him that it's inappropriate to scream and then we ask him to ask for help.  So far he still yells at first mostly, but when I look at him and say "Aaron, what do we say when we need help?" he says "heeelp".  On rare occasion he uses it all on his own.  Like when he's screaming his head off because I'm changing his diaper and he hates it and is trying to roll over and yelling "HEEEELLP" at the same time.  Yeah.  Awesome.  I'm just picturing having to change his diaper in public when he starts that up.  Score one for baby on this one.  (sigh)  You win one, you lose one I guess.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go stick my head in the refrigerator.  And if you happen to see some sidewalk chalk tags in your neighborhood, I swear -- it's not my boy!

One year olds are nuts. And by nuts, I mean........

Greetings and apologies first of all. It's been way too long since I've graced you all with an Aaron update. But as I've said in the title, one year olds are nuts! Aaron is so busy moving and getting into everything and pointing and asking "Dat?" (what's that?) and saying "nOOOoooo". He also shakes his finger at the dog and says "Nooo" when the dog barks. I might have taught him that. Perhaps. On purpose.

AnyWHO.... Aaron is not walking yet, but he sure does move. He's quick and he loves getting into any cabinet or drawer. The newest drawer is the spice drawer. Lots of little bottles for him to play with. And I can't tell you how many dented cans of food we have. He also loves to sit very very close to the dog food and stick his foot out so that he's almost touching it with his toe and then look up at me so I can tell him "No toque! That's for the doggie!" and so he can do it anyway. He also loves the vacuum and I assured him that as soon as he's able, he can use the vacuum as much as he wants!

He's doing very well though and thankfully is on whole milk (goodbye formula!) and will eat regular food. I still keep a small stock of jar food but I'm trying to move more towards regular food. It's harder to get our schedules the same because I don't eat as many times as he does but I'll just have to figure it out. He loves pasta with butter and cheese. He also loves bananas and yogurt (still). And he LOVES peanut butter and jelly. Man, I'm making myself hungry. Moving on...

Aaron also likes to say "DADA!" when he sees Josh. No "momma" yet though he still refers to me as "linda" occasionally. And when Josh goes to work, we go to the door and wave goodbye and Aaron waves and smiles. It's pretty cute. Also, there is the network called Sprout on cable and they have this puppet bird named Chicka (she's a chicken) and Aaron loves her. He squeals when she comes on and says "CACA!" -- I guess he hasn't gotten the "ch" sound down yet!

I don't know how much he weighs right now but I'm sure it's close to 30 lbs. He's so heavy. And unfortunately, he is SO hard to put to sleep for me. He's a year old and I'm still rocking him to bed, sometimes for an hour. It's insane - bad for me and bad for him. And since Josh is still working nights, I'm the one doing it every night. My wrists are killing me! Aaron's doctor and a few other mom's have told me that I just have to let him cry in his crib. At first the idea just stabbed my little heart and it still does, but holy Zeus I don't know what to do anymore. So a few nights ago I rocked him for 15 minutes and put him down still awake. I turned on his night light (with music) and left him in there (saying goodnight first of course). He cried on and off for about 15 minutes before he fell quiet. He had had a long day so it was luck the first night. The second night he had only had one nap and so he fell asleep in less than 10 minutes of me rocking him. But the third night and tonight, I've rocked him for 10 minutes and put him down and he's cried longer than 20 minutes. Last night Josh had off and he went in and rocked him to sleep. Tonight I just laid him back down in the crib and turn the night light on and rubbed his back until he fell asleep. (sigh) I guess it's supposed to get easier every night..... we'll see.

But other than that, we are all doing well and enjoying each other. You might know that I'm at home now with Aaron (SAHM) and Josh is looking for a 2nd job. We are also looking to move out of our tiny condo and into a home with a yard but haven't had any luck yet. Plus, it'd be awesome if Aaron had his own room. It'd be SO AWESOME.

Wish us luck! I'll keep you all updated!